1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for controlling a device, such as a printer, via a network, and a method of controlling the apparatus, a device control apparatus and a method of controlling the apparatus, and a device control system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a device control system in which an information processing apparatus controls a device via a network, such as a LAN (local area network). In this device control system, when a client PC on the network uses a device, such as a printer, a storage, or a scanner, the client PC accesses the above-mentioned device regarded as a shared device, via a device server which is one of device control apparatuses.
On the other hand, there has been proposed a system in which when a client PC uses a device via a network, the client PC encapsulates data into packets (packetizes data), and then transmits the packets to the device server via the network (see e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,136). In this system, when the device server receives the packets, the packets are unpackaged to extract the data, and the device server transmits the extracted data to the device.
By the way, when the client PC packages data into packets and transmits the packets to the device server, it is necessary, for example, to transmit and receive data for controlling the device (hereinafter referred to as the control data) between the client PC and the device server.
On the other hand, even when the control data is not transmitted and received, the client PC is required to transmit and receive data for managing the status of the device (hereinafter referred to as the management data) to and from the device via the device server. That is, the management data is always transmitted and received between the client PC and the device server.
Therefore, when the management data and the control data are transmitted and received in the form of packets, traffic is generated on the network even when data transmission and reception are not performed. In the case of a network to which a numerous number of unspecified devices are connected, such as the Internet, influence on such traffic cannot be ignored.
In addition, if the platform, such as an operating system (OS), is different between a device on a transmitting side and a device on a receiving side, parameters and a data format necessary for data transmission are different, and as a result, the data transmission may not be performed simply by transmitting and receiving the data in the form of packets.